Open dialogue, a new approach for psychosis, fully involves the patient. It has a flattened hierarchy, a shared agenda and the aim of 'being with', rather than 'doing to'. Image: Corbis

Last week, a report by the all-party parliamentary group on mental health said people with mental health problems receive substandard care (Report, theguardian.com, 4 March). In response, the president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, Professor Simon Wessely, asked to see “good words translated into good deeds”. The good news is that some of these good deeds are already happening – but at the frontline. On NHS Change Day on Wednesday nearly 500 people attended the first national conference, in London, on peer-supported “open dialogue”. They heard firsthand reports of the profound changes this approach is bringing to patients and families.

In Finland, studies show that open dialogue has allowed over 70% of those presenting with acute psychosis to be discharged from services – almost symptom-free – within two years, yet with far less hospitalisation or high-dose medication. In the UK, far fewer achieve these outcomes.

Open dialogue fully involves the patient and their social network, from the very beginning; with a flattened hierarchy, a shared agenda and the aim of “being with”, rather than “doing to”.